Q&A: Can Bellafill In Lips Be Dissolved?

Q:

Can Bellafill Be Later Dissolved With A Steroid Or Some Type Of Injection After Being Injected Into The Lips ?

A:

Hello and thanks for posting.

Bellafill is the only FDA approved permanent filler in the United States. It is actually a hybrid combination of 80% bovine (cow) collagen and 20% PMMA. The PMMA is the permanent component of the filler.

Bellafill should not be injected into the lips for two main reasons. The first is that when the FDA approved it, lip injection was excluded. The other reason is that because the muscular action of the lips can lead to clumping and nodule formation of Bellafill.

Although the PMMA in Bellafill is permanent, there is a matrix of inflammatory cells and collagen that exists in conjunction with the PMMA microspheres. Corticosteroid injections (triamcinolone) will reduce the inflammatory matrix and will reduce the size of Bellafill nodules or granuloma. So the PMMA cannot be dissolved, but the overall volume of the implant may be reduced with a series of corticosteroid injections.